How can we help our neurodivergent kids strike a balance between honesty and oversharing? In this conversation, Mark is joined by author and advocate Heidi Mavir to talk about why the truth is so important to our autistic children and why they sometimes find it difficult to understand the difference between honesty and brutal honesty.
They dive into the emotional labour of neurodivergent parenting, the fine line between honesty and fear, and why some conversations feel impossibly hard. Heidi shares her approach to talking openly with her son and the power of truth in building connection.
This episode will resonate with parents navigating difficult topics - from school struggles and diagnoses to grief and overwhelm - and wondering how much to share. It’s real, funny and deeply affirming.
For anyone seeking a neurodivergent parenting podcast that handles the messy bits with care and courage, this is for you.
Links to stuff we mention in this episode
"Your Child is Not Broken", by Heidi Mavir: https://www.heidimavir.com/i-wrote-a-book
EOTAS Matters resources: https://eotasmatters.kartra.com/portals/EVERYTHING
Heidi Mavir's website: https://www.heidimavir.com/
MindJam: https://mindjam.org.uk/
Sock Shop bamboo socks: https://www.sockshop.co.uk/featured/bamboo
The Barbican, London: https://www.barbican.org.uk/
"My Neighbour Totoro" stage show: https://totoroshow.com/
Contact us
If you have any feedback about the show, ideas for topics or suggestions for neurodiversity champions you'd like us to give a shout out to, you can email: hello@neuroshambles.com
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Credits
The Neuroshambles theme tune was created by Skilsel on Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/music/beats-energetic-hip-hop-8303/